(No official web-site)
901 Sutter Street (on the corner of Leavenworth Street)
phonicular contact: (415) 922-0537
(The first EweToob link by the Beatles should be easy enough to figure out from the name of today's breakfastary destination. The second one, coincidentally enough, happened to be playing on the restaurant's stereo while I was there.)
Golden Coffee (it isn't specified anywhere whether it is a "Shop", "Café", or "Cafe" even) is located in Lower Nob Hill (or Upper Tenderloin, take your pick; I suppose it all depends on which direction you are coming from). It is a small, family-owned diner-type place that looks like it's been in the same spot for at least fifty years. It is run by just two people: "Mom" takes your orders and serves you, and "Pop" does all the cooking by himself. They open up nice and early daily at 7:ooam, which is always a plus for me.
There are only two tables for four people, but there are sixteen diner counter seats (these are the circular kind without backs, and at one time were probably a dark red vinyl, but have become sun-bleached over many, many years). The main/central focus of the joint is the 3-sided rectangular diner counter, anyway. The clientele seems to be mostly neighborhood regulars, but I actually heard about it on yelp* and there seems to be a loyal following (with mostly 4- and 5-★ ratings amongst the yelpers*, yelpites*, yelp-a-holics*, whatevers*). The place is so small and unassuming, though, that I think they should have a sign above the counter: "No Lingering Allowed/Necessary". You just eat and pay, and go on your merry way.
A very chimerical Grotesque and Gargoyle[1] Interlude
(Sorry, Ms. Cole, try as I might, I really couldn't work in a decent segue to "Gargoyle". It's not as if there is a Notre-Dame de Paris on every corner in San Francisco.) A few weeks back, I happened to notice some little piggy-head figures outside of a restaurant on Church Street (I think it may have been incanto). I posted a picture of one on defacedbook and incorrectly identified it as a "gargoyle", but was correctly corrected (by someone that shall remain named Gretchen) that unless it has a waterspout, it isn't a "gargoyle", it is really just a "grotesque" (or "chimera"). I never knew that distinction before. I always just assumed that if there was some grotesquely-looking head hanging off the façade of a building that it was automatically a "gargoyle". Well, live and (pork?) loin.
Now back to the actual breakfast part of this (supposedly) breakfast 'blog.
Golden Coffee has a very typical dinerish breakfast menu (much the same as yesterday's entry). I simply had the Spanish Omelet ~ with mushrooms, onions, & tomato sauce; served with hash brown (noted as two words and singular) and toast. And seeing as it was half of their name, I also had a cuppa the house coffee (which was actually brown, not golden, though).
This was a decent enough omelette (much better than I could ever make), but it was really nothing all that special. It was about as good as I figured it might be in a small, friendly, family-owned diner-style place. And there is nothing wrong with that at all. I liked the hashbrowns a lot (which, strangely enough, were more of a golden-brown); they are made fresh with each order. For my toasted bread side, I chose whole wheat toast (it was brown, not golden, but I expected that).
Golden Coffee has Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red stuff), Crystal® Louisiana's Pure Hot Sauce, and an unidentified Asian-style thick pepper sauce in plastic squeeze bottles for condimentary supplements. I used some of my own Nando's Extra Hot Peri-Peri Sauce on the omelette (Thanks, Kerry!) and some of the Asian hot sauce on the potatoes. The Nando's actually went well with the sweetish tomato sauce; it tempered the sweetness a bit. The Asian-style hot sauce was very good; spicy, but a little sweet, too.
On my way back home on the bus, there was a lady sitting next to me that was talking to (well, mostly arguing with) herself. I think that there is a thin line between crazy and sane ~ a pair of earbuds, perhaps? If she had been wearing a pair of earbuds, I am sure that people would just assume that she was having a conversation on her mobular "smart" phone. A very loud and insane conversation, but still…
For the record, I take my morning coffee black (not golden) and have no time whatsoever for that intolerable sugar.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Spanish Omelet ~ 5.9
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day:
"Gargoyle" comes from Middle English "gargoile", from Old French "gargouille"/"gargoule" (literally meaning "throat"); compare to Latin "gurgulio", "gula", and "gargula" (meaning "gullet" or "throat"). (See also "gargle" and "gullet".)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargoyle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_%28architecture%29
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